Dr. Deborah Williams Jones retiring from South Georgia Technical College
Dr. Deborah Williams Jones, Assistant Vice President for Student Navigation and Institutional Support, has announced that she is taking an early retirement from South Georgia Technical College. She has worked on both the Americus and the Crisp County Center campuses with four different Presidents and in four different departments during her tenure at the college.
Dr. Jones’ career with South Georgia Technical College has spanned over 27 years and has included instructional as well as administrative positions in Adult Education, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Distance Learning. Her vast career at South Georgia Technical College was almost cut short when her first position as a Business Technology Instructor was eliminated only two days after she and Eddie Jones were married.
Even though her first position as a Business Technology Instructor was eliminated, she was able to transfer to a grant funded position in the Adult Education Department. “President Jon Johnson (then Executive VP of Academic Affairs) showed me years ago that sometimes a change is just an opportunity to explore new things. So when President Dr. John Watford announced to the faculty and staff that the college was going to have to reduce its budget for FY2021, Eddie and I agreed, that now would be the perfect opportunity to end my career at South Georgia Technical College.”
Dr. Jones began working at South Georgia Tech as a Business Technology Instructor in 1996 and transferred to a new position in the Adult Literacy department as a result of a reduction in force. She later returned to teaching Business Technology full-time. She taught on both the Americus and the Crisp County Center campuses in that role. SGTC President Sparky Reeves promoted Jones to Distance Education Coordinator for both the Americus and Crisp County Center campuses in 2006. He promoted her to Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2011 and then named Dr. Jones to the Assistant Vice President for Student Navigation and Institutional Support in 2014, where she has served for the past six years.
“Dr. Jones has been an asset to South Georgia Technical College. On behalf of the faculty and staff here and in Crisp County, I would like to thank her for 27 years of service and wish her all the best in her early retirement,” said South Georgia Technical President Dr. John Watford. “Her career has touched almost every department and has definitely touched students’ lives through her classroom instruction or through her administration as the distance learning coordinator and finally as an Assistant Vice President in both Academic Affairs and in Student Affairs.”
“My parents (Carrie Williams and the late Felton Williams) instilled in me at a young age to get all the knowledge possible because in the end no one can take your knowledge away,” said Dr. Deborah Williams Jones. “I would like to thank my mother for everything because my educational journey would not have been possible without her. She paved the way.”
Dr. Jones also thanked God and her husband (Eddie Jones) for affording her the opportunity to be able to retire early. She had words of appreciation for former Presidents Dea Pounders, Jon Johnson and Sparky Reeves as well as current President Dr. John Watford. She thanked them for pushing her forward and allowing her to grow. She also encouraged the students that she has worked with throughout the years. “Students, do not worry about where you start or anything in between, only worry about where you end because your ending shall be greater than your beginning.”
Dr. Jones received her Doctor of Philosophy, General Education degree in 2005 from Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota. She earned a Master’s of Science in Business Administration from Georgia Southwestern State University in 1997, and her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1993.
Dr. Jones and her husband, Eddie, live in Americus. The Jones own Precision Automotive. She is very active in the community and serves on the Americus-Sumter County Hospital Authority Board and the Crisp/Dooly Fuller Center Executive Board of Directors.